Straw Doll
by Irhaboggles
Summary: What if Fiyero did shoot Glinda during the Catfight? What if it was Glinda who was dragged away to be tortured and interrogated. Would Elphaba be able to save her friend this time? Or would it all still only end in suffering and misery? What would become of Glinda?


"Let her go!" Fiyero commanded. "Or explain to all of Oz how the Wizard's guards watched while Glinda the Good was slain," he raised his rifle to point right at Glinda's heart.

"Put the gun down, son," one of the Gale Force soldiers commanded. "We know you'd never really hurt her."

"Oh, wouldn't I?" Fiyero challenged. Then before anyone else could even blink, he pulled the trigger on his rifle. There was a bang, a shriek of pain, and a thump. Glinda was suddenly on the ground, writhing and sobbing in pain as blood sprayed from her arm. All Hell broke loose in the short few seconds to follow. Firstly, the Gale Force soldiers released Elphaba so that they could all take up their own guns again. Secondly, Fiyero began to shoot his rife again, over and over, felling any Gale Force soldier stupid enough to try and shoot him. Elphaba, all the while, ran over to Glinda's side, heedless of the gunfire happening all around her.

Quickly picking up Glinda, Elphaba ran back over to Fiyero.

"Come on!" she commanded. Fiyero needed no further incentive to send back one last hail of bullets before sprinting after Elphaba. Together, the trio vanished into the nearby cornfields. Elphaba's mind went on lockdown as she sprinted as fast as she could through the golden fields, barely even aware of how heavy Glinda was in her arms. All she could think to do was run.

But then at last, Elphaba emerged on the other side of the first cornfield. The sudden break from all those cornstalks woke Elphaba out of her mini stupor and she finally collapsed to her knees from exhaustion. Glinda rolled awkwardly out of her arms, still sobbing in pain, fighting hard not to scream as she began to use parts of her big poofy skirt to bandage her wound.

"Wait a minute. Where's Fiyero?" Elphaba panted after a few seconds of silence.

"Dead," Glinda replied, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Dead?" Elphaba echoed, sounding disbelieving and agonized.

"Dead," Glinda promised grimly. "While you were carrying me along, I watched him fall further and further behind us, trying to protect us. But there's only so much one rifle can do against a whole squadron..." Glinda didn't need to say anything else for Elphaba to get the picture. And as of right now, Elphaba wasn't sure what to think about this. On the one hand, of course she regretted knowing that it was her fault Fiyero was dead. On the other, though, her mind was still reeling from the fact that he had actually shot Glinda. She wasn't quite so ready to forgive him for that...

After a few more minutes of silence, however, Elphaba came back to her senses and used a few rudimentary healing spells to at least keep Glinda tied down until they were able to get back to Kiamo Ko and obtain real help.

"Thanks, Elphie," Glinda hissed through her pain as Elphaba finished closing up the wound and slowing down the amount of blood pouring from it.

"My pleasure," Elphaba replied grimly, then she hopped to her feet and helped Glinda to her own. Without another word, both of them headed into the next cornfield, entirely ready to sneak back all the way to the castle in the west. It was too risky to fly right now. Walking was all they had.

But only about halfway through that second field, all Hell broke loose again. All of a sudden, Glinda was on the ground again. This time, it wasn't because of a bullet, but rather, because of a large metal net that had been thrown over her, quickly entangling her within iron chains.

"Glinda!" Elphaba was hit by the very edges of the net, but it didn't take her more than a few seconds to wiggle on out. The same could not be said for Glinda. Elphaba quickly reached back, every intent to help rescue Glinda, but she didn't get very far before Glinda stopped her.

"No! The Gale Force is coming! You have to go!" the little blond pleaded, grabbing Elphaba's hand through one of the holes in the net. Elphaba looked agonized, as though Glinda had told her that she was going to need to rip her own body in half, but when Glinda only continued to repeat and insist that Elphaba could do nothing for her now, Elphaba finally got the picture and ran. It was the hardest and most shameful thing she'd ever done, but she couldn't deny that there was some logic in the idea. Much as Elphaba hated to leave Glinda to the devices of the Gale Force, they both knew full well Elphaba would be of no use to anyone if she tried to stay behind only to be killed. If Elphaba wanted to do some real good for Glinda, she would have to stay alive, even if that meant she needed to run away first...

After what felt like an eternity, Elphaba was finally far enough away that it was safe for her to fly again. She wasted no time in using a quick little spell to increase her flight speed and it didn't take her long to touch down into Kiamo Ko. But scarcely had her feet touched the ground when she started chanting, summoning her Grimmerie right into her hand before flipping madly through the pages in attempt to find anything that might help Glinda's case. For a minute, Elphaba found no useful spell within the Grimmerie. Fearful and desperate, Elphaba turned to her crystal ball and looked in. Glinda was being tortured to death for mutiny against the Wizard by aiding the Wicked Witch of the West. Even though she had very much been a victim in this circumstance, already, the "justice" system was twisting it out of proportion and making it look like Glinda had been the true wicked mastermind all along.

Panicked, Elphaba quickly turned back to her Grimmerie, nearly ripping pages in her panic to find something. At last, then, she stopped on a random page wherein she thought she saw the words "rescue", "change", and "protect" (though she could not be sure because the Grimmerie was written in a foreign language that only she knew how to read). Taking it as her last and final option, she began to read and chant. She waved her arms mystically as she chanted the incantation as fast as she could. Alas, however, it still all amounted to nothing, and when Elphaba finished her spell and looked back into her crystal ball, Glinda had finally stopped moving altogether. She lay totally motionless in a giant pool of her own blood and Elphaba didn't need any clearer sign than that to know that she had failed.

"GLINDAAAAAAA!" Elphaba's agonized and wounded howl was almost loud enough for the Emerald City to hear...

For the next week or so, life passed in a blur of pain, anger and despair for Elphaba, and she hardly even knew what she was supposed to do now that Glinda was gone. She began to pray for death, hoping that the Wizard might soon send someone to finish her off entirely. Her prayers, for once, were answered, and after that week or so, a strange little child named Dorothy came trotting along up to her castle. But even though Elphaba had been ready for death, the moment she was finally facing her executioners head-on, she backed out. Part of it was from fear, and part of it was from bitterness. Why should she have to die? What had she ever done to deserve this sort of fate? So instead of coming quietly like originally planned, Elphaba quickly came up with a plot to trick the Dorothy girl and her friends. She would pretend that water could melt her and when she was finally doused in water, she would pretend to melt by sinking into a trapdoor that would be used to hide her until it was safe to emerge again.

The plan worked like a charm and Dorothy left Kiamo Ko so certain that the Wicked Witch of the West was dead.

"Ha! Stupid kid!" Elphaba snickered as she lifted the trapdoor open. But she nearly let it drop back down on her head when she realized that one of Dorothy's crew was still in the castle. It was that sentient Straw Doll that had been so fiercely protective of Dorothy during their last battle. What in Oz was she still doing here? Elphaba had to bite back a cry of irritation and anger as the Straw Doll saw her trying to leave her trapdoor. But instead of panicking or attempting to attack, the Straw Doll only cried out in joy.

"Elphie!" and Elphaba's entire world was shaken.

After a few seconds of confusion, the Straw Doll (who was apparently Glinda, even though Glinda was supposed to be dead!) explained.

"You must have cast some sort of transformation spell on me," she said. "Because one minute I was flesh and blood, and the next, cloth and straw!" she waved an arm made entirely up of straw to illustrate her point. It rustled as she moved it.

"But that was just it! Because you turned me into a straw doll, the Gale Force could no longer hurt me, so they disposed of my body, thinking I was dead. I wasn't, of course, and I wasted no time heading west. It was on my way back to you that I ran into Dorothy, and she helped me find you!"

By the end of the story, Elphaba had no doubt that the Straw Doll standing before her was indeed her sweet little Glinda. With nothing else to do, Elphaba gave one sob before tackling Glinda's flimsy body in a hug. Glinda could feel Elphaba's tears soaking all the way through the cloth and straw of her new form. She gave a small, relieved smile before returning the hug, squeezing as tightly as her straw arms would allow.

A few days later, the two witches stood on the back balcony of Kiamo Ko, overlook the mysterious fog that shrouded the land far west in mystery and secrecy. They were prepared to fly right into it, escaping from Oz forever.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Elphaba asked as they readied to fly off.

"Of course, Elphie! I don't care what could happen so long as we stay together this time!" Straw Glinda replied, as peppy and devoted as ever despite being made of straw and cloth.

"I hope I can fix you..." Elphaba bit her lip guiltily as she looked over her shoulder to take in her once-human-now-Straw-Doll friend.

"Ah, it's ok, this doesn't hurt. You did the best you could," Glinda reassured warmly. "You saved my life. I can live with this."

"Well," Elphaba murmured, hiding a small smile. "I guess that means now _I'll_ have to teach _you_ how to be popular."

"What? Nonsense!" Glinda scoffed. "I'm still as popular and perfect as ever!" she tried to give a toss-toss of her straw locks and only ended up losing a bit of it in the process. She grinned sheepishly as Elphaba bent over to pick up the loose straws and tuck them back into her head.

"Of course you are, my sweet, of course you are," said Elphaba with a teasing smile as she helped Glinda put herself back together again.

"Stupid loose ends!" Glinda muttered embarrassedly.

But after their playful banter was done, it was time to hit the skies. Elphaba mounted the broom first, then she made room for Glinda to climb on after her. Glinda quickly cast a bubble charm around herself and the broom so that the windspeeds from the flight wouldn't tear her apart. Now, Glinda could fly freely and safely!

"Now you'll get to see what fun it is to come and go by bubble!" Glinda teased as the shiny, pearlescent circle encased her and Elphaba.

"Shut up," Elphaba grinned good-naturedly, then she and Glinda started to rise up and up and up until they were soaring high above the clouds. In the distance, there was a large rainbow traveling across the sky.

"Shall we?" Elphaba asked, gesturing to it.

"Somewhere over the rainbow," Glinda replied with a smile. "I like the sound of that!" so onward they flew, never looking back even once.

**AN: Another rewrite of the Catfight scene, only this time, it's Glinda who is Elphaba's main lover and, as such, she suffers the fate Fiyero did. This is mostly a "how it should have ended", am I right? LOL.**


End file.
